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Monaco
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Lando Norris says Ferrari are the favourites for pole position at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix because their low-speed performance is stronger than their rivals'. Norris said: "Honestly, I think that Ferrari will be on pole next weekend in Monaco. Their low-speed performance is far better than everyone else."
Williams has hired AI and data specialist Dr James Smith as its new chief information officer in a newly-created senior leadership role. Smith, who has worked at Google and DeepMind and co-founded Human Native AI, said: âI am excited to be joining Atlassian Williams F1 Team at a moment when data and AI are becoming increasingly important to performance both on and off the track.â Team principal James Vowles added: âThe latest battleground in F1 is the ability to harness data and AI across all parts of the team.â
RacingNews365 reports Formula 1 is set for a largely trouble-free Monaco Grand Prix weekend on the weather front, with current forecasts (as of 12:30 BST on Tuesday, 2 June) pointing to hot, dry conditions throughout, with temperatures in the mid-to-high 20C range. The outlet adds there is a chance of rain overnight between Thursday and Friday, but it should have cleared before track action begins, while a larger storm system crossing the Atlantic is expected to dissipate over mainland Europe and not affect the grand prix.
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad said the teamâs updates working well in Montreal gives him hope of being competitive when he heads to Monaco for the first time in an F1 car. Lindblad said: "Obviously it's hard to compare circuits. But for sure in the end, both these tracks are street circuits, both of them have kerbs, have low speed. I think it's always hard to know, but the updates worked really well here, there's similarities to Monaco, so hopefully we should be competitive there as well."
McLaren boss Andrea Stella says the teamâs start to the 2026 Formula 1 season has been âbelow our expectationsâ as they deal with a âchallengingâ opening run of races. Stella said: "The start of the season has been challenging. We have had issues of a different kind. It's definitely below what would have been our expectation, to be in contention for the championship."
Audi F1 boss Mattia Binotto says the team is not in negotiations with Red Bullâs Max Verstappen because it is ânot yet readyâ to offer him a car capable of fighting for victories. Binotto said: "No, we are not. I'm not. And the reason why is I think we are not yet ready for it as a team. If Max would join, you need to offer him a platform which is a proper platform where he can fight for victories."
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Formula 1 must fully enforce the principle that it is a championship between independent constructors, after McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown wrote to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem about alliances between teams. Andrea Stella said: "Very clear on a principle that I would really be curious to see if any of the stakeholders in Formula 1 disagrees with, and the fact that this is a championship between independent constructors. We believe very strongly that this principle should be enforced totally."
Cadillac has chosen Dynisma to supply a new âtop of the rangeâ driver-in-the-loop simulator for its expanding F1 operation. The Bristol-based firm will provide a DMG-360XY simulator, set to be installed at Cadillacâs growing hub in Indiana, with the team saying it will support vehicle development, driver preparation and set-up work. Cadillac chief technical officer Nick Chester said: âSelecting the right simulator platform is a key decision for any Formula 1 team. Dynisma's technology gives us the level of fidelity, responsiveness and correlation we were looking for.â
McLaren will run further tests in Monaco on the revised front wing it abandoned during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, after deciding it was not delivering as expected. Technical director Neil Houldey said: âthe front wing wasn't quite delivering what we expectedâ and the team reverted to the previous spec because it âgave the drivers more confidenceâ. Lando Norris said: âItâs not a guarantee weâre going to run it in Monaco, but weâll do tests,â while Andrea Stella confirmed: âWe will definitely see this wing again in Monaco,â though McLaren may still choose not to race it.
Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari are "massively down" on power compared with Mercedes in 2026 and hopes the FIAâs Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) scheme can help the team close the gap. Hamilton said: "Even when you get the overtake [mode], you get within a second, they still pull away. So that's how much grunt that they have and we're massively down. But I really hope with this new rule [ADUO] that enables us to try to improve some performance, so we can get back in the fight with them."
Lewis Hamilton says Monaco is the one track where âpower is not kingâ and believes Ferrariâs car could be âreally strongâ there, with the team having often paid the price for a straight-line performance deficit despite strong cornering form this season. Hamilton said: "I mean, that's the one track that power is not king. I think that's definitely car performance, I think our car could be really strong there. I'm really going to focus on making sure I arrive with the same energy as I had this weekend, really study hard with the engineers to make sure we position the car in the right place from Practice 1."
Mercedes deputy team principal Bradley Lord says George Russell and Kimi Antonelli told the team to let them race after a tense Canadian Grand Prix Sprint in Montreal, which prompted a clear-the-air meeting with Toto Wolff. Lord said the driversâ message was: âTrust us to race each other. Thatâs what youâve hired us to do and we can do it,â adding they wanted to ensure their racing stayed âwith the interests of Mercedes foremost, not just the individual priorities of each driver.â
Williams team principal James Vowles says Alexander Albonâs crash after striking a groundhog during opening practice in Canada was âvery expensiveâ and will compromise the teamâs car development under the cost cap. Vowles said: "When you are constrained by a cost cap, you simply can't bring the updates at the rate that you want them to. You can't take the weight off the car, in our case, at the rate that we'd like to as well. These sort of events, especially when they're as significant as what happened at the weekend, really do set you back."
Jenson Button says he would like to drive the Aston Martin Valkyrie at Le Mans, six months after retiring from motorsport following the 8 Hours of Bahrain last November. Button said: "I'd love to drive the Aston Martin Valkyrie around Le Mans one day. Perhaps we can make it happen. It would be my chance to finally drive an Adrian Newey-designed car."
Oscar Piastri said the proposed 2027 power-unit change to shift the internal combustion/electrical split to 60:40 would be a âstep in the right directionâ, but warned it would not fully solve the qualifying deployment issues without âchanging hardwareâ, after the FIA announced an agreement in principle that still needs an official vote. Piastri said: "I think it's a step in the right direction, but it's not the fix. No matter what the split is, you're going to have these troubles with opening a qualifying lap, getting the battery in the right level... There's not really a solution to that, apart from changing hardware. So that's really the only full fix, but it is a step in the right direction if we do that."
Former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer says the month-long break between the Japanese and Miami Grands Prix was a key factor in Franco Colapintoâs upturn in form because it gave the Alpine driver a chance to reset. Palmer said: "I spoke to him after the race; he came on our show, and he said that the month off between Japan and Miami was great, just to have a bit of a reset. Sometimes just a bit of time off and you come back with a fresh mindsetâit does work."
Williams team principal James Vowles said the team has hired former McLaren chief operating officer Piers Thynne because its current way of getting developments to the track is still âoff championship levelâ. Vowles said: "I don't like reacting to what happens, but what was clear to myself is that the way we are operating is still well and truly off championship [level]; I'm not talking about just the late car to Barcelona and the weight in the car, just the time it takes us to get an idea to track is far too long, and it needs someone that has championship-level understanding of it."
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